On September 4, 1989, in Liegnitz, Poland, Bishop Ivan M. gave me a copy of The Way in Ukrainian, a 1974 edition printed in Munich. It was my first contact with the book and its author.

The book was a joy for us who were clandestine seminarians, during those years of the “Church of the catacombs.” We read it every day. The spiritual director told us that, after Sacred Scripture, it was the book we should have closest to us.

Each day I opened the book to a random page and started reading. And I discovered there what God wanted to tell me specifically that day.

I’ve held on to the book as a relic from those years of clandestine activity and spiritual recovery. It’s easy to see how carefully I read it: it’s filled with notes and underlining in pencil (which is how I try to assimilate more deeply and analyze books).

I’m happy to know that a new edition is being prepared, with a better translation and more modern punctuation.